Pro-Life report on House passage of H.R. 4502, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) Appropriations Act, FY2022 Appropriations Omnibus

Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4502, a seven-bill omnibus for FY2022 appropriations that includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) Appropriations Act and Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Act, by a vote of 219-208.

House Republicans submitted amendments to reinsert the pro-life protections into the bill, and no pro-life amendments were made in order.

LHHS Appropriations Ranking Member Tom Cole (R-OK) offered the attached Motion to Recommit (MTR) H.R. 4502 to protect taxpayer funds from being used to pay for abortion on demand. The MTR would have restored the Hyde Amendment, the Weldon Amendment, the Dornan Amendment, and the Smith Amendment, which were removed from the underlying bill.

Pro-Life report on H.R. 4373, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4373, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Appropriations Act, 2022, by a vote of 217 - 212.

Removes the Helms Amendment—The bill removes language preventing foreign aid from directly paying for abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce anyone to practice abortion or involuntary sterilization.

Weakens the Kemp-Kasten Amendment—The bill weakens the provision authorizing the President to discontinue funding to organizations that support or participate in the management of a coercive population control/abortion program.

Weakens Pro-Life Peace Corps Provision—The bill removes language preventing Peace Corps money from being used to pay for abortion. Current law prohibits federal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

New Pro-Abortion Text: The bill would prohibit any President from reinstituting the Mexico City Policy, reestablished and expanded by President Donald Trump as the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy. This provision, rescinded by President Biden, required foreign nongovernmental organizations to agree, as a condition of their receipt of US grant money, not to promote or perform abortion.